Attractions & things to do for the kids in your life

VISITOR INFORMATION

Schedule / hours: 2017: Open Tuesday to Sunday (and Holiday Mondays) from mid-May to Thanksgiving, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (They usually reopen for a haunted event around Halloween time and St. Nicholas has been know to visit the village on weekends in December.)Admission price: 2017: $7/person, FREE for 3 years and under. (Variable price for special events.)Address: 2609 Fanshawe Park Road East LondonPhone: 519-457-1296Website: www.fanshawepioneervillage.Nearby restaurants: • The Pioneer Village Café serves lunches (open Wednesday to Sunday and Holiday Mondays).While you are there: • The General Store carries children’s toys, candy, hand craft art, books and more. • Fanshawe Conservation Area is located right next door by the pioneer village. It includes a long and nice unsupervised beach and over 650 campsites.Age group: 4 - 16 years old

Back to the past

Many of the 30 buildings at Fanshawe Pioneer Village are open to the public, displaying various antiques within reach. We started by visiting the school where my kids were appalled to read the rules observed by the pupils of the time! In a replica of the Canadian Free Press Building, children could look at typesetting letters and engravings that were patiently set for the printing of the newspaper. The log house was one of the best examples I've seen of the type of house built by the settlers who arrived in 1865. The Pioneer Farm shows the type of house they subsequently built, once they were better settled on their land. The Jury's House displays all the comforts available at the end of the 19th Century. I'm sure this is the perfect place to see a battle re-enactment (they normally do a 1812 Re-enactment in August).